Glitch (Next Level #1)(17)

I grab her shoulders and pull her in tight to my chest. “I wish you’d told me sooner.”

“I don’t know you,” she mumbles.

“You know me, Ara.” I tip her chin up. “And even if you don’t know me well enough yet, you could have gone to Trey.”

“I handled it.”

And I’m so proud of her for sticking up for herself and knowing her worth. No one should be treated like that. Jason is a dick.

Ara cringes at me. “I’m just going to come out and say it all, okay?”

Fuck, there’s more?

“He was jealous of you because he caught me saying your name once.”

Oh shit.

“While I was coming.”

Oh. Double. Shit.

“Yeah. Sooo…” She pushes away from me and puts her hands on her hips. “How’s that for an ending to our first date?”

I stare at her for a few beats. “Who said this is the ending?” I grab her by the ass and pull her in. “This first date’s only just begun.”





Chapter 9


Ara



Glitch’s intense gaze doesn’t intimidate me, it empowers me. What is it about this guy that makes me so bold?

Everything. The answer is everything.

I’ve just laid my truth out—or most of it, at least—and I fully expected him to run out of here. Instead, he looks more committed to this evening than before.

I can’t believe I told him I got caught saying his name while I came. See, this is what happens when I get flustered. I overshare. But I want him to know because I want him to understand that this isn’t a rebound.

I’ve been harboring secret feelings for him for months. I want to tell him I tried to break up with Jason multiple times because my heart wasn’t his, it was Glitch’s, and I only kept taking that douche canoe back because I felt guilted into it every time.

That was my fault. I won’t ever make that mistake again.

Just like I won’t hold back from Glitch tonight, or any other night from here on out.

I back up, making him follow me out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into my bedroom. If we’re moving fast, it doesn’t feel like it. Honestly, this night feels like it’s been in the works for ages.

“It smells so good in here,” he says, looking around, taking in every little detail of my personal space. The contrast between his dark hair and inked skin against my blush pink walls and cream bedding is hot. He plucks a white peony from a vase and smells it. Dropping his hand down to his side, he twirls the stem between his fingers and stalks over to me.

I keep walking until the back of my knees hit the bed.

“Promise me something.” He buries a hand in my hair and brings me close to his mouth. “If you need me, you’ll tell me. Whatever it is, no matter the time of day or night, if you need me, you’ll tell me.”

The word tumbles off my tongue. “Promise.”

Tension eases from his shoulders.

I thought he’d push me onto the bed next, but that’s not what Glitch does. He presses me flush against his chest, spins me around, and walks me back to the bare wall next to my dresser.

Our eyes deadlock.

My heart hammers in my chest.

“Ara, I’m about to say something that’s going to come out really, really fucked.”

I can’t wait. “Spill it.”

“I’m glad your computer’s broken.”

I don’t know how to respond, because honestly, me too.

“It got us here, and I’m glad it did. But I’m pissed I can’t fix it. I should have been able to fix it.”

He’s not talking about the computer. I know he’s not, because his tone is restrained and his hands tremble on my hips.

“I’m glad it broke too,” I say, swallowing my pride. I built that damn thing with some of the money I earned off my very first commission. It meant big things for me. It meant I was successful and could spoil myself a little. Since I’m in a dry spell now, with no new money in sight, a massive creative block, failed relationships that were total nightmares, and up until today I didn’t even have food in my pantry, I’d put more meaning on that stupid piece of equipment than I should have. “I’m glad you had that chat room open all the time for us.”

“Me too.” I wish you’d have used it and told me about Jason sooner. He didn’t say those words, but they were there, hanging in the air between us.

Glitch always kept the channel between us private. It was open for me anytime I wanted to pop in and say something. I just rarely did. Not nearly as often as I wanted to, at least. But knowing the option was there, that the door was open, had been a comfort. Weird, right?

“Glitch?” I snake my hand around his neck.

“Hmm?”

“Want to reboot?”

The air whooshes out of him, and he laughs. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”

A do over would be great, right about now. “Okay. How?”

He smashes his mouth to mine, erasing every coherent thought from my head. I swear I’m floating. Blood rushes to my ears and I’m a little dizzy. Holy fuck, this man can kiss.

“Hi,” I say once he lets me go.

Glitch radiates confidence. His eyes gleam with desire. To be the center of his attention is like I’m the sun he orbits around. And I’m burning. He leans into the side of my face and runs his nose up my cheek. His breath is hot against the shell of my ear when he growls, “Heyyy, Kitty.”